Hobbes, la coopération et la théorie des jeux

• Main Author: Marc Parmentier
• Format: Article
• Language: fra
• Published: Université de Lille 2010-04-01
• Series: Methodos
• Subjects: history of liberalism; political philosophy; theory of games; Hobbes; affect; beauty
• Online Access: http://journals.openedition.org/methodos/2380

This article aims to establish whether the theory of games can formalise and explain three basic issues raised by Hobbes: the war of all against all in the state of nature; the social contract that establish absolute sovereignty; legitimate means at the sovereign’s disposal to impose people’s consent to abide by the rules of the social contract. It will be argued that the « assurance problem » formulated by Amartya Sen appears more relevant than the well-known « prisoner's dilemma » in some respects. Our analysis also reveals some ambiguities in Hobbes' political philosophy that may lead to diverse interpretations and judgments about his role in the history of liberalism.